


This Means I Love You

by starlitsprout



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Mentioned 00' Line Members, Mentioned other Wayv Members, Science Fiction, Space Pirates, mentioned blood and injury, there's a bit of swearing and subtly inappropriate jokes be warned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:20:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28966728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlitsprout/pseuds/starlitsprout
Summary: Sicheng thinks again of what that computer means, and what it means for the apartment to only feel like home when Xuxi is around, and how Xuxi smiled when Sicheng said he missed him for the first time, and the words slip out of his mouth, as easy as breathing.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Qian Kun, Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas
Comments: 6
Kudos: 60
Collections: Challenge #4 — Awaken The World





	This Means I Love You

“Ten,” Sicheng greets when familiar blonde hair pops up on the screen hovering above the dining table, “I need your help.” 

“Ah, I’ve been expecting this,” Ten says with a solemn expression. “Sorry honey, but I'm turning you down for your own good.”

“What?” 

“I know it’s hard being without your sexy hunk of a man friend, but you feel guilt way too easily to cheat, and my types are usually less uptight,” Ten continues, one corner of his lips already twitching. 

“At least you're making yourself laugh,” Sicheng rolls his eyes while holding back his own grin. “This is not a hookup call.”

“Boring. What’s up?”

“You know how Xuxi is obsessed with those old-school computer games?”

“Uh huh.”

“And you know how Hendery got his hands on some Earth trades from the Impala raid?”

Ten gasps theatrically as his face surges closer, and Sicheng takes a step back as though his friend could actually phase out of the screen. 

“You did _not_ spend 2500 credits on an old ass computer that probably doesn’t even work,” Ten asks, mirth evident in his voice. 

“It’s not that expensive for an antique,” Sicheng defends weakly. 

“That's everything you got from the City job!” Ten raises his eyebrows. 

“Look, I just need someone who knows tech to piece it together. Are you going to help me or not?” Sicheng folds his arms across his chest and leans against the dining table.

“So it’s my boyfriend you need. What’s in it for me?” Ten leans back with a toothy smile, revealing a sliver of his apartment behind him, cluttered with canvases. The way his eyes gleam and his posture shifts to radiate calm confidence reminds Sicheng of the times when Ten would take the helm in negotiating astronomical returns for their...goods.

“I’ll let you bring your cats, and I have liquor from my last stop at Xander.”

“See you in 5 minutes, o’ platonic love of my life,” Ten replies cheerily, already turning away from the screen before the call ends. 

// 

“Sorry, how many computers did you get exactly?” Ten asks when he walks into Sicheng’s living room and sees the white boxes and metal littered across the floor. 

“Just the one, but apparently old devices used to be made out of more than just one metal frame,” Sicheng sighs as he lets his friends survey the wreckage of his failed attempts. 

Ten’s cats are already roaming around, having slipped between his legs and into the depths of his apartment the moment he opened the door, and he prays that they don’t get into the pantry. 

Kun bends down to pick up the instruction manuals squashed under one of the boxes and flips through them. “Did you use these?”

“Of course, but there are five of them. And one is in Spanish? I think?” Sicheng says wearily as he sinks into a chair. 

“Maybe that’s the one holding all the important instructions,” Ten peers at the flimsy paper over Kun’s shoulder. “Don’t you know Spanish?”

“I only know how to ask for directions and threaten to shoot,” Sicheng admits. 

“That’s no good,” Kun sighs as he places the manuals on a nearby box and rolls up the sleeves of his checkered shirt. “I’ll try my best, but my expertise is with contemporary aircraft, not knick-knacks from 80 years ago.”

“It’s okay baby, I like it when you get frustrated,” Ten slides his arms around Kun’s waist as he coos, and Sicheng hurries to interrupt them by clearing his throat. 

Thankfully, it makes Kun swat at Ten's hands, embarrassed. Ten kisses his teeth in mock annoyance and settles on the floor between the largest boxes. “Alright alright, let’s get this done so you can surprise your boyfriend and I can have mine back. Hand the liquor over.”

//

Sicheng had come up with the idea of getting the computer about two moon cycles into Xuxi’s absence.

Separation is inevitable in their line of work, and it’s rare to find clients across the Cosmos that are willing to fork out the amount of credits that would warrant both their levels of expertise. Still, this marked the first time Xuxi took a job that was projected to be more than two days since they started dating. Half a moon cycle, to be exact. 

The job was simple, a quick in-and-out heist on one of the more opulent moons of the Neo belt, and the reward was good. There was no reason for Xuxi to turn down the offer, and Sicheng didn’t expect him to. Still, he found it endearing when Xuxi nervously brought it up one night in the pitch darkness of their bedroom. 

“Of course you can go,” Sicheng had laughed, skimming his fingers along the tattooed lines across Xuxi’s waist. “I’m not your keeper. We’re professionals.”

“But I'll miss you. What if you forget me?” Xuxi had pouted, obvious even without sight. 

“I literally live with you, Xuxi,” Sicheng replied dryly, ignoring the little pang in his heart. “Your clothes are kept right next to mine. I’m sure I’ll remember you exist when I see them.”

So Xuxi had gone. But somehow everything that could go wrong did, and Sicheng had been haunting their apartment alone for two and a half moon cycles now, with no idea when Xuxi would be back in the comfort of their domed apartment in the heart of Valiencia. 

Passing black holes and recent collision-caused debris had caused aircraft hoverways to be closed, and the last Sicheng heard, Xuxi’s aircraft had also broken down after a particularly close shave with Neo guards. Xuxi had skipped the details, only that the team had to take a detour to Grade-12, a chopshop planet that was friendly to customers from all walks of life (read: criminals), but was completely out of range from Valiencia’s aircraft teleportation reach. 

“I’m going to ask Haechan for a spare engine so I can tape it to my ass and fly myself the fuck home,” Xuxi growled, his face dull and tired over the screen of their most recent call. “I've never wanted to go home so bad in my life.”

Sicheng hummed sympathetically as he arranged the pillow behind him. “I don’t think you can fly yourself if the hoverways are closed.”

“But I can if they’re open?”

“If there’s anyone dumb enough to try it, it’d be you,” Sicheng said to make Xuxi laugh. He did, though it was tinged with exhaustion. 

“Thanks baby, you’re so supportive,” Xuxi smiled through the screen with fond eyes. 

It was the pet name that made Sicheng’s heart clench with sudden emotions, swirling up to lodge in his throat. He turned to look at Xuxi's bedside table, still cluttered with the man's expensive comic paperbacks from a past era. The one at the top of the pile had been bookmarked with a necklace Sicheng had given as a present when Xuxi first moved in. Sicheng fixed his eyes on it as he mumbled, “I miss you.” 

Because he did. It had been too long since he's had Xuxi’s presence-next to him as they fail at breakfast attempts because they both have no cooking skills to speak of; behind him as they lie in bed, humming to whatever tune he has in mind; across the dining table as they clean and arrange weapons in companionable silence. It’s what Sicheng craved the most, and if he didn't know how long more Xuxi was going to be away, then he deserved to hear it. 

Xuxi froze for a moment on the screen, and then he _beamed_. His eyes shut with the force of his smile, and he looked so ridiculous and so handsome and so happy that Sicheng couldn’t help but return his smile, a little embarrassed. 

“I miss you too baby,” Xuxi replied softly. In the background, Yang Yang was yelling unintelligibly, and the usual din of craft metal being scraped and pounded seemed to intensify in response. 

“I have to go get the craft in order, but I’ll see you soon okay? They’re going to wreck the Neo vault, and if they do then this whole thing is for nothing,” Xuxi continued. “I love you, and I’m going to be home as soon as I can, even if it kills me.”

“Be careful,” Sicheng said. “Bye.”

The ended call made the apartment even quieter and emptier than it had seemed before, which triggered Sicheng into beaming for Hendery’s number with determination. Gifts had always been his way of affection, and he knew just what to get to embody all the things he hasn't learnt how to say.

//

Unfortunately, even Kun and Ten’s combined efforts can’t help him to figure out the monstrosity of wires and metal that is Xuxi’s welcome-home present. 

“I’m sorry Cheng, but this is way out of my experience,” Kun says apologetically after two hours. 

“This is supposed to be old tech! There’s no reason for it to be this complicated,” Ten moans as he drapes himself along the couch. “I’m tapping out, this is too much thinking for the day. Sorry, sweetie.”

“That’s okay,” Sicheng replies as he rubs his eyes tiredly. “I’ll figure it out. Thanks for trying.” 

His friends leave soon after the fruity liquor is drained and the cats come back into the living room to demand food and attention. Sicheng considers continuing his efforts after closing the door behind them, but struggling alone at a hopeless task is unappealing, so he decides to leave the mess in the living room and head straight to bed. He's not sober enough for this anyway.

The alcohol that fogs up Sicheng’s mind and makes him fall asleep almost as soon as his head touches the pillow, but it’s no match for the part of his brain that’s on constant alert for danger and startles him awake when the front door unlocks with a soft click. 

Muted footsteps shuffle into the living room and stops for a brief moment before it moves closer. The person’s gait is unfamiliar, and Sicheng runs through his list of clients or previous colleagues that he could have pissed off that would warrant a house visit. None of them are particularly forthcoming. 

Slowly, he draws a gun from the bedside cabinet and rolls over Xuxi’s side of the bed down to the floor, further from the slightly ajar bedroom door. The gun isn’t enhanced, but the sounds the stranger makes is human, and Sicheng has never missed his mark, especially at such close range. 

The footsteps stop just outside the bedroom door, and Sicheng sees a long shadow spill through the gap. Quietly, he unlatches the safety latch, but before he can take aim at the door, a familiar voice rings through that punches the air out of his lungs. 

“Sicheng if you’re holding the gun please put it down, it’s been a really long day.”

Before Sicheng can process what he hears, the door swings open the rest of the way and Xuxi moves into the room slowly and locks eyes with him. For one breathless, silent moment, they do nothing but stare at each other, Sicheng still half-hidden behind the bed. Then Xuxi tilts his head slightly, and smiles in the way Sicheng loves the most. “Hi baby.”

Sicheng springs into action, dropping the gun onto the floor with a loud clatter and leaping over the bed and into Xuxi’s arms. The force of it causes Xuxi to stumble back into the wall, and he hisses as his back hits the stone, but he doesn’t loosen his grip. 

“What happened to you?” Sicheng whispers as he runs his hands over Xuxi’s face, down his shoulders. “You look terrible.”

Xuxi’s face is gaunt, with a barely-healed cut on his cheek that wasn’t there in their last call. His arms are littered with superficial cuts and bruises that are barely visible over his darker tattoos, but from the way he hisses when Sicheng touches his side and only puts his weight on his right leg, there are clearly more serious injuries under his ugly sleeveless tee and ripped jeans. It makes Sicheng want to track down the client that offered Xuxi the job.

“I said I’d come home even if it kills me, right?” Xuxi grins. 

“Idiot, you’re limping,” Sicheng wants to yell, “I almost killed you over it.”

“Just some high-speed chase situations, nothing big,” Xuxi says calmly as he ducks his head to press his lips to Sicheng’s neck. “Just so you know, you smell great.”

“And you smell like Yang Yang’s garage. Why were you in there?” Sicheng rants as he pushes a hand through Xuxi’s dark hair before it clicks. “Oh my god, you stole his craft to get home, didn’t you. He’s gonna beat your ass.”

“Not if I let you do it first, but let’s wait till I’m more awake for that,” Xuxi quips as he flaps one hand in the air, but Sicheng is too caught up with the sight of his bruised knuckles, so dark they almost glow in the faint light from the hallway, to join in the teasing. 

“Saw that mess out in the living room by the way,” Xuxi continues. “Is it what I think it is?”

“Yes,” Sicheng says distractedly as he assesses the injuries,“I wanted to put it together before you came back but I don’t understand anything. If you want it, you’ll have to fix it yourself.”

“No problem,” Xuxi cheers. “I’ll bring it to the chopshop and get the boys to help me out. I’m sure it’ll be great. Thank you love.”

“That’s really the least of your concerns now,” Sicheng replies. There’s a large gauze wrapping Xuxi’s entire left side, and seeing it with a little red seeping through makes him consider violence. “Who did this to you?”

Xuxi simply kisses him, firm and comforting, and it’s such a transparent effort to change the topic, but it still stops the torrent of questions in Sicheng’s head for a moment to bask in the fact that _Xuxi’s home_. The warmth in his chest radiates across every cell in his body, making him feel effortlessly anchored and settled, like his own centre of gravity has returned.

“Let’s plan the revenge homicide tomorrow, I need to lie down in a bed that’s not going to shake when Xiaojun flies too fast,” Xuxi slowly backs Sicheng towards the bed as he speaks, and when they reach the edge he slides onto the sheets and groans out loud. 

“This is the good stuff,” he says, rolling around happily, and Sicheng is equal parts angry and amused, but above all, he’s content. His boy is home, and Sicheng is going to take care of him. 

“We’re going to talk about this first thing tomorrow,” Sicheng warns as he slides under the covers behind Xuxi and wraps a careful arm around his waist, mindful of the slight wince when he does. He knows all too well about Xuxi's hero complex where he keeps the worst to himself.

“Yep, and we’ll fix that computer tomorrow too,” Xuxi mumbles and makes a soft snuffling noise as he buries his face in Sicheng’s hair. His breathing is already slowing and Sicheng can feel the tension slowly seeping out of his body. “And then I’ll try to make you lunch and show you the cool stuff I got for you from the Neo belt, and you can yell at me a little bit for spending too much credit on silly things. But. Tomorrow. I love you.”

Sicheng thinks again of what that computer means, and what it means for the apartment to only feel like home when Xuxi is around, and how Xuxi smiled when Sicheng said he missed him for the first time, and the words slip out of his mouth, as easy as breathing. 

“I love you,” he murmurs, but he knows from the slowed and steady heartbeat thrumming against his own chest that Xuxi doesn’t hear him. _It’s okay_ , he thinks as he shifts closer to his boy and closes his eyes. He has tomorrow, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written in four hours immediately after finishing my 25-page final thesis and boy, what an experience. My fingers will never uncurl again. 
> 
> I'd love to get opinions and as always a huge thanks to the little wonder fic admins for their great work!! See you guys at the reveal!!


End file.
